Muddy Boots and happy faces as runners step out

Ben Imeson

As the sun sets on another fabulous Muddy Boots race it’s easy to forget about what happens behind the scenes to create such a great day.

The event – held at St Wilfrid’s Primary School in Ripon on Sunday, February 8 – was helped by the weather, which was just fantastic.

We could only have dreamed of people hanging around and sitting outside given the recent weather but on the day that’s exactly what happened.

As the signs are stored and sorted for another day, the hall swept and school returned to the way it was, those of you who are relaxing, basking in your glory or soothing aching bodies, spare a thought for those that helped.

Many were non-runners, giving up spare time, baking food, handing out numbers and marshalling – all true heroes helping to raise funds for our children’s school.

Enough about us, we can’t do it without you – the fast, the fair to middling and all those just aiming to get round.

Thanks for coming to Muddy Boots, for smiling, eating and drinking with us. We hope you enjoyed the day, all feedback on the Facebook (www.facebook.com/MUDDYBOOTS10K) or results page (follow link from Facebook page) is greatly received – it makes it all worth while.

I was on the course at around two and four miles near the old bridge, I think the new course worked a treat and it was great to see the seemingly endless mass of coloured shirts meandering along the riverbank before the little kicker of a hill.

Hopefully you will all agree that the chip timing was a vast improvement too, it has saved many man hours of inputing information and allowed the results to be posted before many of you left the hall.

The 10k race was the biggest yet with 512 entries and 436 taking part with most local clubs represented.

The overall winner was Leeds AC legend and all-round nice guy Mike Burrett who stormed the new course in a time of 34m 23s and two minutes clear of second place Andy Grant from Harrogate Harriers.

Taking third place was Aidan Adams, again from Leeds AC, though it was Harrogate Harriers who took the men’s team prize as Barry McGuire and John Young finished fourth and fifth.

The ladies’ race was won by Ripon’s Sharon Barlow who cruised around in 40m 17s and finished 11th overall.

Second was Anwen Darlington in 42m 27s and Ripon’s Donna Riddler was two seconds back to take third.

The ladies’ team title was won by York Knavesmire, made up of Anwen Darlington who finished in 42m 27s, Kirsty Vogan in 42m 57s and Cassie Holmes in 46m 48s.

Among the St Wilfrid’s school parents, the first dad over the line was Andy Wray and the first school mum was Julie Brett.

In the fun run, there were 58 runners with the overall boy winner Callum Hodgeson of Ripon Runners and the overall girl winner Ella foster of Ripon Runners.

That’s it for this year – well, for eight months anyway before the now well-oiled machine fires up again.

In the meantime we will be out enjoying our running and thinking of ways to improve on this year for the Muddy Boots 10th Anniversary in 2016.